Assistant Principal's Message
Greetings for 2024!
Welcome back to what promises to be a busy and exciting year. A special welcome to our new families, you now belong to our St Joseph’s school community and we’re very pleased that you’re here journeying with us. Our children are exceptionally fortunate to be part of such a special environment. We look forward to a successful and happy year of learning and fun together.
Semester One Student Council
In Week 3, Students in Years 2-6 will have the opportunity to nominate themselves for the Semester One Student Council. Student Council members represent the peers in their class and bring suggestions forward on how together we can make St Joseph’s an even better place. The council meets each fortnight with Mrs Charnock. Students who were part of the Student Council in 2022 and 2023 are ineligible to put themselves forward for the council in 2024. This is one way we try to ensure that students across each of the classes have as much opportunity to develop their leadership skills as possible.
We will announce our Semester One student council via Compass and in our Week 4 Newsletter.
Celebrating Birthdays
At St Joseph’s we value recognising and celebrating children’s birthdays. Turning a year older is significant and acknowledging this as a school and/or class is important. The ways we do this are at Monday morning assemblies where students receive a card at the beginning of their birthday week. Classes may also have different routines such as singing ‘Happy Birthday’ at the beginning of the day or the child wearing a special birthday badge. A gentle reminder to parents that we do not celebrate birthdays at school with food. Please save these scrumptious delights for the special events you may have planned for at home.
Water Bottle and Food Safety
We also request that students do not bring glass water bottles to school. Plastic or metal drink bottles are a much safer option as we know that drops can accidently happen and shattered glass on the playground is very dangerous. Another point we ask parents to consider is not sending in tinned food which have ring pulls. Often opening these cans is very difficult for students and once opened, the metal edge is sharp and unsafe. Opening these food items at home and packing them in a small plastic container is a better option. Thank you for your understanding.
Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL)
St Joseph’s is a Positive Behaviour for Learning school (PBL). PBL is a comprehensive, integrated whole school approach to student wellbeing and behaviour. It is a process that supports school leadership teams to create positive learning environments that enable student learning and wellbeing.
Successful implementation of PBL is underpinned by the support and commitment of the whole school community.
PBL is based on a three-tiered continuum of prevention and intervention:
- Tier 1 - Universal prevention: school-wide and classroom systems for all students, staff and settings.
- Tier 2 - Targeted interventions: small group systems for students at-risk behaviourally and academically.
- Tier 3 - Intensive interventions: systems for students with high-risk behaviour and/or learning needs.
From extensive consultation with students and staff, four expectations for positive behaviour were identified. They are
- Act Safely
- Be Respectful
- Care for All
- Do your Best
Dash the Dolphin is our specific school PBL mascot.
Each fortnight specific positive behaviour lessons will be taught in class. The focus area for the fortnight will be shared with parents via the newsletter. We ask that parents reaffirm the message at home with their children. The current focus area is Act Safely: Using safe hands and feet.
Students will continue to receive ‘Dash tokens’. These tokens will be given out by staff as they see students doing the right thing. Fortnightly tally updates will be given out at our Monday morning assembly. Twice a term, as the tokens are gathered in sporting houses, we’ll be rewarding the colour house which has the most. These rewards might be as simple as a picnic lunch on the field, extra playtime or an ice block.
Being a PBL school, we have formulated a flowchart to follow if students do not keep to one of our expectations. This flowchart asks staff to define ‘minor’ and ‘major’ behaviours and details a consistent procedure for all to follow.
Please take the time to read over the flowchart.
The flowchart details how minor and major misbehaviours are recorded on the student’s file in Compass. The purpose of this is to have a consistent way of keeping track of student behaviour and identifying ways we can support students in developing positive behaviour. For minor misbehaviours, teachers use their professional judgement in deciding if parents need to be informed or not. Be assured that teachers will communicate with parents about their child’s behaviour if required.
Please find a copy of the school's PBL PowerPoint below for you to have a look at
Safeguarding - ‘It’s everyone's responsibility’
Safer Internet Day Resources
Connect safely and with purpose – by keeping apps and devices secure and using social media in positive ways.
Reflect before we act – by taking a moment to consider how what we do and say online may affect others.
Protect ourselves and others by taking action – by telling family, friends or colleagues about eSafety and how we can help.
By doing these simple things, we can work towards making every day a Safer Internet Day.
Please take the time to view these no-cost, evidenced based resources that have been provided for students and their families.
